Obama's Energy Policy: Death By A Thousand Cuts

This is a guest editorial by Mike Cantrell, president of the Domestic Energy Producers' Alliance

What sounds like the title of an Alfred Hitchcock movie is actually the Obama Administration’s strategy to kill America’s oil and natural gas production. And it should scare the living daylights out of us all.

President Obama, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, have all made it clear they want to make fossil fuels more expensive. And after their failed attempt to crush fossil fuels in one fell swoop with cap and trade legislation, they’ve turned to federal agencies to impose a long list of selective and foolish regulations on America’s oil and natural gas producers.

Of course each of these regulations on their own won’t be the death of fossil fuels. But combined, they’re setting the stage for a chilling ending that will mean the loss of millions of jobs, billions in tax revenue and weaker national security.

Speaking of Hitchcock, let’s talk about birds. The Administration sued seven oil companies for the deaths of 28 birds in North Dakota. The maximum penalty per dead bird is a $15,000 fine and six months in jail. Meanwhile, the Administration is in the process of fast-tracking wind energy development across the United States and providing legal protection to wind operators that kill an estimated 440,000 birds a year. Fortunately, North Dakota Federal judge Daniel Hovland had the good sense to dismiss the complaint saying "To be consistent, the government would have to criminalize driving, construction, airplane flights, farming, electricity and wind turbines ... and many other every day, lawful activities."

Sound absurd? There’s more. In 2010, the EPA slapped a remediation order on a natural gas producer in Texas while the state’s oil and gas regulation agency was still conducting tests regarding alleged water well contamination. After testing was complete, the contamination was found to be naturally occurring and in no way related to drilling. But the EPA’s arbitrary and shameful actions proved the agency can target any company at random and force them to clean up, at their own expense, a problem they had nothing to do with.

And more costly regulations are on the horizon with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services now considering the addition of 100 Texas species to the endangered species list. It’s estimated that one species alone, the dune sagebrush lizard, could cost oil and natural gas producers, and state and private royalty owners hundreds of millions of dollars over the next ten years.

But perhaps most troubling could be the reporting of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions on oil and gas facilities in the field. And at what cost? Training, consulting fees, data tracking and ultimate reporting will cost one large independent an estimated $10-$20 million per year. The EPA definitions and thresholds will encompass the smallest to the largest domestic producers.